[OCC7N]

Trust me when you hear how Susvara scales on different systems it is far a head of HEK.

If Susvara sounds close to HEK, the system ain’t doing the Susvara justice.

As much as I like Susvara on my system, I think I am only at 80-90% justice.

Taste is obviously different, but they should not sound close to each other.

 

[Flaze]

Trust me when you hear how Susvara scales on different systems it is far a head of HEK.

If Susvara sounds close to HEK, the system ain’t doing the Susvara justice.

As much as I like Susvara on my system, I think I am only at 80-90% justice.

Taste is obviously different, but they should not sound close to each other.

Ive heard sus on 30k+ chains and my opinion did not change. Susvara is clearly superior in terms of its technical capabilities, and especially, its near speaker like stage presentation, how ever, hek v1 isnt that far behind technically, but its tuning is superior and fits my preffs perfectly.
with hek v1, all i want to do is just sit back and enjoy the music, its a much more sensual and lush experience. Its very hard to explain, but, i found more enjoyment with hek v1 then with sus despite sus's superior technical performance.

 

[Flaze]

Ive heard sus on 30k+ chains and my opinion did not change. Susvara is clearly superior in terms of its technical capabilities, and especially, its near speaker like stage presentation, how ever, hek v1 isnt that far behind technically, but its tuning is superior and fits my preffs perfectly.
with hek v1, all i want to do is just sit back and enjoy the music, its a much more sensual and lush experience. Its very hard to explain, but, i found more enjoyment with hek v1 then with sus despite sus's superior technical performance.

If i had to compare headphones to cars, which is another big love of mine, id say susvara is like a bugatti (not that ive been in one lol). Its lean, mean, and very impressive technically. It looks good, it feels good inside, and theres absolutely nothing wrong with it.
But hek v1 is that old school muscle car thats been in the family for 40 years and been cared for. It might not be as fast or as technically capable, but when you sit inside of it and fire it up, you get the feeling of ''yah, this is just right''.
(except that hek v1 is about 90-95% as technically able as sus, -the speaker-like stage, that one is unique to sus )

 

[OCC7N]

We obvously listen differently.

Im not into all kind of technicalities.

There is one thing HEKs cant do like Sus.

Play notes fully. HEK is to fast reponding.

Music taste vs Headphone.

 

[borkenarrou]

as amazing as sus is, with its one of a kind stage and fantastic detail, i think it has room to grow, namely in the tuning department. I think a sus v2, or a new halo hek would be a pretty solid upgrade over current sus, if it kept all the amazing technical and stage characteristics but got the godly hek v1 tuning.
Ive actually got to test both sus and hek v1 extensively on a couple of chains, and personally, hek v1 is my current winner for best headphone ive ever heard.

Agreed, further improvement to Susvara is always welcome, both tuning and tech wise, but Hifiman should not chase power efficiency as a goal for Susvara if that can negatively impact the performance in any shape or form.

Having said that I have heard many say that the gap between Sus and HE1000SE is more wider than the gap between SE and other HE1000 models, so hopefully they introduce something to fill the void in that segment i.e. a less power hungry Susvara (or a new HE1000 model) which can be driven to it potential by more chains at present, high end but not in the power plant category like speaker amps or headamps in > 5k range.

 

[Flaze]

We obvously listen differently.

Im not into all kind of technicalities.

There is one thing HEKs cant do like Sus.

Play notes fully. HEK is to fast reponding.

Music taste vs Headphone.

I think you might enjoy old school stax. Some of them absolutely blow sus out of the water for pure detail (like stax lambda signature).
Tho there not what youd call natural sounding lol. its a very different experience.

 

[Svperstar]

Right now I am leaning toward getting the HEK Stealth over the HEKse, one reason is the Stealth is brand new 2023 drivers/tech and the se came out in what 2016? So am I going to get a driver older then my Arya from 2020 which died?

Not sure if I am right about that.

 

[haiI]

Right now I am leaning toward getting the HEK Stealth over the HEKse, one reason is the Stealth is brand new 2023 drivers/tech and the se came out in what 2016? So am I going to get a driver older then my Arya from 2020 which died?

Not sure if I am right about that.

HE1000SE has 3 years of warranty, only 2 on HE1000 stealth.

 

[Flaze]

Right now I am leaning toward getting the HEK Stealth over the HEKse, one reason is the Stealth is brand new 2023 drivers/tech and the se came out in what 2016? So am I going to get a driver older then my Arya from 2020 which died?

Not sure if I am right about that.

I think hek se is not worth it. Unless you plan to run it off an extremely high end tube amp, youd have a much better experience with regular hek (or even arya honestly, the difference between arya and new hek is extremely small).

 

[Svperstar]

I think hek se is not worth it. Unless you plan to run it off an extremely high end tube amp, youd have a much better experience with regular hek (or even arya honestly, the difference between arya and new hek is extremely small).

I've been back and forth on this for days, Arya vs HE1000. Then Hifiman support emailed me back and offered me a huge discount on the Arya Stealth or Arya Organic because my Arya V2 left driver died. Its a HUGE discount.

Been on this forum for 19 years. So like I said before I remember a time where people would say it was ridiculous to suggest the HD580 (which I got for $154) was pretty much the same, if not better depending on your taste then the $500 HD650, like the HD650 was the clear king.

I do have a tube amp but I also got the Schiit Midgard last week and it is a bit warmer then the THX amp I also own, it gives out a ridiculous amount of power and I use Equalizer APO for everything plus can also EQ with the RME ADI-2 if I need it.

Brightness doesn't bother me if I can dial it down so easily.

 

[Lindholdt]

I've been back and forth on this for days, Arya vs HE1000. Then Hifiman support emailed me back and offered me a huge discount on the Arya Stealth or Arya Organic because my Arya V2 left driver died. Its a HUGE discount.

Been on this forum for 19 years. So like I said before I remember a time where people would say it was ridiculous to suggest the HD580 (which I got for $154) was pretty much the same, if not better depending on your taste then the $500 HD650, like the HD650 was the clear king.

I do have a tube amp but I also got the Schiit Midgard last week and it is a bit warmer then the THX amp I also own, it gives out a ridiculous amount of power and I use Equalizer APO for everything plus can also EQ with the RME ADI-2 if I need it.

Brightness doesn't bother me if I can dial it down so easily.

Are they willing to extend the same discount on a HEKS? If yes, then I would go with the HEKS. If not, the Arya is fantastic, but I guess you already know this
When I compared Arya Stealth to HEKS, they were quite close, but since the price difference was very small, I went with the HEKS. I wouldn't have, if the price difference was significant, as I only found the HEKS to be a bit better than the HEKS.
Had them back to back for almost 1.5 hours in the store

 

[Svperstar]

Are they willing to extend the same discount on a HEKS?

I emailed them back and asked. If not I am going to go with the Organic.

Honestly all the reviews and comparisons I have been reading/watching, and all of the frequency graphs I have been looking at are making me feel like this when it comes to the Arya/HE1000:

 

[Lindholdt]

I emailed them back and asked. If not I am going to go with the Organic.

Honestly all the reviews and comparisons I have been reading/watching, and all of the frequency graphs I have been looking at are making me feel like this when it comes to the Arya/HE1000:

I hear you! That's the thing with a subjective hobby, everyone got different opinions
I love reading what other think about products, but I've also learned that when it comes to spending my money, I can only really trust my own ears.
You don't have a local retailer where you could listen to them?

 

[Svperstar]

You sont have a local retailer where you could listen to them?

I don't think we have a local Hifiman dealer here. There is a stereo store in my city that sells Grado, Focal, and Audeze tho.

 

[Lindholdt]

I don't think we have a local Hifiman dealer here. There is a stereo store in my city that sells Grado, Focal, and Audeze tho.

Hmm, too bad
But I think it's the right choice to go with the Arya, if you can't get the same good discount on the HE1000's.